A thorn in his side
by Ammo-the-hedgehog
Summary: Assassin Shadow. Banker Sonic. What more could you want? Shadamy. Slight Sonouge. Crappy summary is crappy. :D
1. The Thorn

Sonuic and all related characters do not belong to me, Thorn (who you will find in this chapter and a few later chapters) is mine. Any others that belong to me will be mentioned before the fan fic like this.

Enjoy!

* * *

Steel toed boots thudded against the stone cobbled streets of the poorest area of Mobius. The cloaked figure to whom the boots belonged scanned the run down streets with dull, empty looking grey eyes.

As he scanned the area, he had come to the conclusion that this narrow, forgotten alleyway, was the place the city used as an orphanage, however, there were surprisingly few of these parent-less minors sitting on the cold, stone streets.

As the cloaked male looked around the alley for the final time, he noticed a young hedgehog who looked as if he had promise, and was little over eight years of age. The perfect time to start training him. The figure walked to the dark furred male and asked him "Is that your real fur colour or is it muck?" The hedgehog looked at him and nodded lifelessly. The figure asked him if he had parents. He shook him head. "In that case, you won't mind me taking you in as an apprentice, will you?" Yet again, the hedgehog sat on the floor shook his head.

The older male then motioned for the young boy to stand and he did so. He then began to walk away from the boy in the direction he had came from with the boy following only seconds afterwards.

Ten years later, to the day, an eighteen year old hedgehog by the name of Shadow wore the same cloak as the male who had picked him up off the streets ten years earlier. It was as black as his fur and had an oversized hood that would cast a shadow big and dark enough to hide his face (and identity) from anyone other that those who he allowed to get close. The cloak was still a little too long for the eighteen year old, mainly because it was a hand-me-down from a hedgehog around two years older than him but he had gotten used to it and refused to turn the bottom of it up because he didn't have the time.

"Shadow, you really should fix that cloak. We don't want our best apprentice getting hurt while he's finishing a contract do we?" The man who had 'adopted' Shadow rounded the corner and appeared in the doorway of Shadow's quarters just as he finished his sentence.

"I already told you that it's fine as it is. Besides, I don't have the time." Shadow retorted with a barely visible smirk on his tan muzzle. The older male smirked at the onyx and crimson male, barely remembering how obedient he had been as a child.

"Too right you don't have the time... which reminds me, you have another contract. This time it's..." The male trailed off as he flicked his way through some sheets of paper kept together with string. "...*Thorn Rose." Shadow then nodded, picked up a small pouch he had left on the oak table in his room then hooked it to a belt underneath his cloak and left first his room and then the complex.

Shadow walked along the bustling streets, heading in the direction of the Rose family home. The whereabouts of the Rose family's home was common knowledge because the Rose's dealt with the majority of business affairs in the lower and middle class areas of Mobius. Also, this meant that visitors at any hour were never really questioned and visiting the Rose's was considered 'normal' even with their high status in the community.

As Shadow closed in on the Rose family home, he noticed a pink hedgehog who looked quite worried. Deciding that avoiding suspicion was the most effective way of staying out trouble, he decided to help the fretful young girl. "What seems to be the matter, young lady?" Shadow asked, his hood firmly pulled right over his head.

"My boyfriend was supposed to meet me here over fifteen minutes ago but-"

"Don't worry, I'll find him. Just give me a description and name and he will be back here within the hour."

The girl gladly told him the information he had asked for, almost begging him to find her boyfriend after thanking him for trying. Most of what she said after describing the man she was looking for and his name simply fell on deaf ears but one thing tugged at Shadow's heart. 'Please bring him back to me... he's the man I truly love...'

Only five minutes later, Shadow had found him. He was sat on a stone bench staring at the ground. Shadow took a guess at why he was late, and thought maybe he was preparing to propose and had gotten cold feet, but those thoughts soon left his head when he saw the ivory bat that was approaching him and calling his name. "Soooniic~! Good morning! Oh I've missed you so much..."

Shadow's blood coloured eyes shifted to the bat. She seemed as if she was... _available_, but not in terms of relationship. He struggled to see why Sonic would give up a girl like the pink hedgehog for _that_.

Sonic stood up to meet the bat half way to the stone bench and embraced her lovingly. He pulled back from the embrace, kissed her then lead her over to the bench. He sat down, almost forcing her to do the same, then began talking to her. "I promise to leave Amy as soon as I can, I just haven't had chance yet." He said, looking lovingly into the bat's baby blue eyes. She looked away from him with a hurt look on her face.

"Am I not good enough for you to dump her for?" She asked. Shadow could see the cobalt hedgehog getting desperate.

"Of course you're good enough! I'll dump her the next time I see her.

_What? What the hell is he thinking? Dumping that poor girl who cared so much for him for _that_? He must have some sort of problem._ Shadow thought. He was shocked by his own thoughts and quickly physically shook them out of his head and advanced on the blue hedgehog.

"If anyone will be doing the dumping today, I should expect it is the poor girl who is worrying over you." Shadow snarled as he reached the hedgehog's side. The sitting male turned to curse at the black hedgehog and tell him how it was none of his business and that he should keep his nose out when a fist connected with the left side of his face which sent him sprawling onto the grass behind the bench. "I suggest you don't answer me back, or I'll do worse. Now, are you going to meet your _real_ girlfriend, or stay in the company of..._ her_?" He continued, waving a gloved hand in the direction of the bat. Sonic answered this question by running in the direction of the pink female Shadow had told he would help.

Shaking his head, Shadow walked off in the direction of the Rose house for the second time that day. His good deed done, he could focus on his **real** goal now.

* * *

This is where I'm going to explain about my own characters and why they are in it... Thorn is down there. :D

*Thorn Rose is the name I have given to Amy's dad. I rarely create characters that are related to official characters in this way (e.g. Mother, Father, Brother, Sister) but Thorn was a must for a previous fan fiction and he kind of stuck...

R&R PLEASE! I GET REALLY HAPPY WHEN I FIND OUT THAT SOMEONE HAS WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT MY WORK AND IT MAKES ME WANT TO WRITE MORE!

Suggestions for future chapters are also taken on board. :)


	2. The Opportunity

Since I epic fail'd spelling in the last chapter, I'm going to redo the disclaimer.

Sonic and all related characters do not belong to me.

Sorry for the short chapter this time... I would have run into my plan for chapter three, but that would have nade the whole thing go dodgy...

* * *

Shadow continued his journey towards the Rose family house, grumbling inaudibly at the thought of the blue hedgehog and the bat he had been with. _He's not too bright if he thinks that the figure makes the girl... _His own thoughts were beginning to anger him, and just as he was about to get angrier at himself than he was at Sonic, the bat that he had been with sidled up beside him. "So... what's your name?" She asked. He ignored her and quickened his pace. She matched him speed.  
"I don't tell just anyone my name, now leave before I make you." The bat looked at him then walked in front of him.

"You made my boyfriend dump me. I want a replacement." She growled.

"There's a lot of things that a lot of people want, but not many get it." He replied, quickly jumping away from her and climbing a nearby building.

In less than five minutes, Shadow was at his destination. He could see the left wall of the Rose home. The white, stone building was recognisable, not only because it was one of the only buildings that had managed to stay white, but because of the gargoyles that had been commissioned. Each one was unique, or at least, Shadow had never seen any like them. As he looked to the floor, he saw the girl who he had helped earlier. Curious, he jumped down and walked over to her.

Amy Rose sighed deeply, remembering the way her boyfriend had treated her only a few minutes earlier. He had ran over to her from the direction the mysterious man had walked off in to find him, stopped for less than a few seconds and then dumped her on the spot. He said that 'there were more fish in the sea' and that he 'needed to try out a few more girls before he could decide.' Then, he turned around and dumped a bat! Amy had hit him around the face for being able to dump two girls one after the other and the bat slapped him for dumping her. After that, Amy stormed off home.

Shadow dusted himself off and then tapped the pink hedgehog on the shoulder from behind. "Hello miss." Shadow began, just as she turned to face him. "I wasn't expecting to see you here..." He continued, giving her half a smile. Although it was barely visible under his hood, she noticed it.

"Why would you not have expected to see me here?" She questioned. He shrugged.

"Well, there are better places for a courting young woman to be than a business office." Shadow suggested. The look on her face suggested that she was unhappy with one or more parts of that sentence.

"Actually, I'm not in a relationship. He dumped me."

Shadow got talking to the young lady and found out quite a lot about her. Just a few things were that her name was Amy, and that she had been in a relationship with Sonic for about a year.

"So you're first name is Amy... what's your last name? You don't look the sort to have the usual second name that just states what species you are." Shadow asked Amy. She smiled then answered.

"My last name? It's Rose. My full name is Amy Rose." The hood over Shadow's face finally served a purpose, when he found that out. His eyes widened in shock and slight terror. The girl who he had only just started to know would eventually loose her father. All because of the contract that he had been given. "What's the matter?" Shadow realised that he had just been staring into space in silence.

"Oh... n-nothing. Sorry. I just remembered that I have something that I need to do..." He told Amy.

As he walked away, Amy called after him. "Could I talk to you tomorrow then?" She asked. Shadow stopped and turned around. "Sure. I'll come visit." Then he ran off again towards the assassin's guild complex.

* * *

R&R PLEASE! Thank you!


	3. Add on for The Opportunity

I have good reason for this being short. I forgot to upload the previous chapter onto dA, and have just done so with this added to the end. So that you, my fans are not mission out on this extra paragraph or so, I decided to be nice and upload this for you. I will try to finish this story even tough it has been a long time since the last one, for that I apologize, but I get my summer holidays soon so I should be able to write mroe without worry about school work and GCSEs.

* * *

_ This is bad... very bad... I'll have to... kill her father. She's going to hate me if she finds out... wait, why the hell should I care what she thinks of me?_ Shadow cursed himself as he ducked into the complex through a hole in the roof of the Assassin's guild. Hanging precariously from the hole, he scanned the ground beneath him, double checking that none of his 'brothers' were about to be shocked half to death by a black cloaked hedgehog falling onto them from the roof. After he had confirmed he would not hurt anyone, he released him grip and landed on the floor with the grace of a cat. "Welcome back Shadow. Did you finish it?" His adopted father smiled.

"Unfortunately no," Shadow said, righting himself and then dusting off his cloak. "I ran into a few... p**roblems** on the way. Shadow muttered, sweeping past his parent.

"What kind of problems?" He pried. Shadow ignored him and continued walking.


	4. The Assassination

Sorry about it being a little rushed, I just thought it would be best to do it this way. Well, I'm a little ill, so I had time to write this. :D If there are any of my stories that you have read and are desperate to hear the end of, please tell me and I will focus on finishing it.

* * *

Shadow spent most of that night and the next day in his quarters, thinking over what had happened the previous day. First, he had helped a civilian, which was **not **the Assassin way, and then he had stupidly began talking to and promised to visit that same person! He was beginning to think that he was in fact beginning to grow a heart – metaphorically speaking of course – but was snapped out of his delusions by the clanking of metal on stone floors.

"Shadow, you've been in here for over twelve hours. What on earth is the matter with you? This is the longest such a simply contract has taken you." Shadow's 'father' said, taking his hood from over his face to show a concerned look.

"I'm just thinking about something. It has nothing to do with you so don't worry. I'm going to get the job done now." Shadow said with a cold glare to his parental figure as he left his quarters. Shadow continued down a few corridors until he reached the main chamber then ran up the wall to grab the rim of the hole he had previously used to enter the building.

Several minutes later, Shadow was once again outside the Rose household, a blade hidden in his hand and under the long arm of the cloak. The wooden door creaked open. Shadow readied himself to either stab the one who opened it or quickly put the blade away and greet them. As the face of the individual was revealed, the latter was enforced.

"Good evening, Miss Rose." Shadow said with a bow. This enabled him to slip the knife quickly and easily into his boot.

"Good evening." Amy smiled. "Please, come in." She moved aside, motioning for him to go inside the grand building. He nodded and made his way into the building.

"Are your parents in?" Shadow asked, following Amy through the Rose household towards the garden. Amy's eyes lost their light for a spilt second then she smiled again and replied.

"My father is but... my mother really couldn't be here even if she wanted to." Unsure of what she meant by this, Shadow asked her why. "She died when I was only young." Shadow immediately apologized, biting his tongue in fear of saying anything else that may harm her emotionally again.

As Amy opened the door to the garden, Shadow saw his target. Thorn Rose, the one he had been contracted to kill, stood staring at the blue sky, a small smile on his face. "Good evening, Amy. Who is your friend?" He asked, smiling at his pink daughter.

"This is... um.. I... I don't remember your name. Sorry... What was it?" She asked.

"You don't remember because I have not told you, so it is my fault and there is no need to apologise."Shadow began his mind racing to find a name he could use that he could remember. "My name is-" A knock at the door interrupted Shadow and a call from Amy stating that she'd get the door brought a silent sigh of relief to Shadow's lips.

"Bravo, Assassin." Shadow's head snapped in Thorn's direction. "I never suspected that that filthy guild of yours would stoop so low as to use my daughter to get into my home. I think I might have approved more of you smashing a few windows to get to me." Shadow's eyes widened, half in fear, half in amusement. How did he know. "Do it quickly, Assassin. I would rather my daughter not see me dying." He urged. "Oh, and do tell your client that I am amused by his tactics." Shadow's open jaw was righted, then he knelt to get the knife from his boot – eyes never leaving Thorn. He shot up, and towards Thorn as soon as he had a grip on the knife, trying to minimize the time it took to avoid any of the immediate consequences of his actions. He jumped forward when he was close enough; burying the blade in his chest and then leaping over him and towards the wall he planned to scale.

At that time, Amy walked back through the door and the scene she saw make her blood boil. "_YOU!_" Amy spat after Shadow, first running to her father to see how bad his injuries were. As an Assassin, Shadow had been trained not to miss vital spots. He had most certainly managed that as the knife was in Thorn's heart.

Shadow was still attempting to scale the wall. He was slower than usual. Not good.

Amy looked around franticly for a stone to throw at him and upon locating one, grabbed it and threw it straight at Shadow. His random movements and her bad aim seemed to be the only thing that made the stone connect with his shoulder. The pain in his left shoulder made him let go of the wall with his left hand. He looked over his injured shoulder at the girl whose father he had just killed. Tears of anger burned at her cheeks as she went for another rock and Shadow knew that he had to get out of there – fast.


	5. The Invaild Contract

Update. :D Yay, I managed to write two chapters in two days. This is... sorta making up for being a lazy person... Yes? No? Well, i should be able to update more soon. I'd say another 2-3 chapters before the... _mature_ scene/s is/start depending on how long this is.

* * *

Shadow's feet scrabbled for footholds. Any part of the building's structure would do, as long as he could keep his foot perched on it. The second rock ricocheted of a section of the wall to his right. Too close for comfort. Way too close.

He finally got a foothold and, using all of his strength, pushed himself up the wall towards the roof. Another rock, this time to his left. If Amy was correcting her aim, the next would hit or be damn close to hitting. His red eyes saw the terracotta coloured roof. Just a little further and he was safe! Another rock bounced off the wall, this time to the left of his chest. He pushed himself once more... He was over the lip of the roof, scrambling to his feet. He was free!

Before the guards could be called, Shadow was half way back to the safe of the Assassin's guild. Pain pulsed through his left shoulder. He suspected a minor fracture, but nothing more, and if he was right it should be stable in a few weeks, but how long it would take for the fracture to heal completely, he was unsure.

This time, Shadow did not check if anyone was underneath him when he dropped through the hole in the roof. He knew that everyone was out on contracts at this time of day. Everyone except his father, who saw his drop, clinging at his arm. "Shadow! What happened?" He asked.

"I'll tell you later. First I need a piece of cloth. A **big** piece."

Once Shadow had put his arm in a sling, he explain to his father what had happened. He explained how he saw the opportunity, took it, and ended up paying the price, however he said nothing of the fact that his target knew his motives and contractor. "I need a message passed on to the contractor." Shadow said after he had finished his explanation.

"And what message is that?" His father asked.  
"I would prefer it to be written and passed to the client with full confidentiality." Shadow retorted. His father sighed, then nodded. Both then left for their own quarters.

A few weeks had passed, and Shadow had been refusing contract after contract after he had killed Thorn. Something didn't quite seem right. Even though his job was to kill people who others wanted dead for a valid reason, he didn't see why he had been contracted to kill Thorn. He seemed to be a genuine enough, middle aged hedgehog male, with stature, but not enough for someone to want it badly enough to contract an expensive assassination. Something was seriously amiss here...

"Shadow!" A cloaked figure burst through Shadow's door. "You last contract... it was recently found invalid!" The red cloak of one of Shadow's 'brothers' hung around the ankles of the fox at his door. The colour red had never made Shadow feel quite this sick before. He has seen different shades of that same colour nearly every day of his life, but now that he, Shadow the Hedgehog, had killed someone because of an invalid contract made his stomach do back flips.

"Invalid?" Shadow smashed his fist off of the wooden desk in front of him. "I knew that something was wrong..." He muttered. "When is the funeral of Thorn Rose?" Shadow shouted, grabbing a bag from a table top.

"In one hour." The fox stated. A grimace passed over Shadow's face. He would have to be there. He would have to pay his respects to the man he had killed wrongly.  
"I'll be back in about 4 hours."

Shadow had made it to the funeral just as Thorn was being lowered into the ground. He had stood around five feet behind Amy, watching her every movement and constantly mouthing the words 'I'm sorry' for both Thorn and her.

He had no idea why the contract was invalid, but he found himself wondering why the reason it was invalid even mattered. The fact was that he had assassinated someone who didn't deserve it, and made him leave his daughter behind in the process. Despite hearing of contracts that were only proven to be invalid after the contract had been carried out, he never thought that it would happen to him. It was like when you hear of bad things happening to people. You think that it happens, but you are only proven right when it happens to you.

As the funeral ended, Amy began to walk home. He thought that it was only right for him to make sure she got home safely. It was the least he could do.

* * *

Please R&R! I'll write more if I have comments back from you people! :D


	6. The Reason?

Sorry for not updating for a couple of days. :( The Xbox 360 had me in a trance.

* * *

Shadow followed Amy through crowds of busy people, but their faces were a blur. His vision normally picked up every single face, every single detail, but this time he was not scanning crowds for his target. This time, he had his sights set on her pink quills and fragile frame. Nothing was going to take his eyes from her. She was his target, but in a very different way to all of the others. She was the person he had targeted this person for the sole purpose of protection.

Amy seemed to breeze through the crowds and even in her current, distressed state she was the centre of most peoples attention. In a way, this made Shadow's job so much easier, but unfortunately he also knew that it made the job of anyone else who was tracking her so much easier as well.

He had managed to remain completely undetected for almost the entire trip, and only once did she pick up on the fact that she was being followed. As she passed through the boundaries of her home, Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe. Or so he thought.

"Sonic?" Amy breathed, stopping dead in her tracks.

"I heard about your father." The cobalt hedgehog said in a saddened tone. Amy's eyes fell to the floor.

"Oh... Well what is done is done. I would be a fool to think that I could have changed anything."

"But if I hadn't visited-" Shadow blocked out the rest of Sonic's sentence. _He was at the door?_ That explained one thing that Shadow had been curious about at least. However, as Shadow continued to watch Sonic's movements, he found the urge to defend Amy growing inside him for some unknown reason. Something seemed wrong... but he didn't know what.

Then he saw it. The letter he had sent to the contractor or Thorn's death. The Assassin's Guild seal was pressed into the broken wax circle, ensuring that no one had read the letter before the recipient other than the sender. Sonic had contracted the death of Amy's father and was now talking to the daughter of his victim as if they were old friends. Which, the theory, they were. Shadow lost his mind for only a second, lunging forward in anger, but that was all it took. He had stopped himself, but Amy had noticed his movements and her grass green eyes had locked on to his figure. Shock was the first thing to show on her face, and then anger, but before she could blink he was gone.

That night, as Shadow got his first bit of real sleep in weeks, his mind subconsciously poured over all of the new information. Amy was still talking to Sonic. Sonic had contracted Thorn's murder. Thorn had known who had contracted his killing. Many possibilities rose in Shadow's mind. Revenge was one, but that was soon dismissed as it was Shadow himself who had aided the dissolution of their partnership **after** receiving the contract. But then it hit him. It wasn't that Sonic wanted the **murderer** to suffer, it was more that he wanted something that he could only get after Thorn had been **murdered**. Permission to marry an under-aged offspring. Permission to marry Amy Rose.

Shadow woke immediately, sweat trickling down his face. Sonic had contracted the killing of Thorn to marry Amy... but why? Why did he want to marry Amy so badly? Shadow's eyes flickered across his room as he thought of anything that could be a reason. Anything he might have heard that would be a good enough reason to kill a persons father just to marry them. He got nothing. Half of him was relieved by this, as he knew that his mind was not twisted enough to think of it, but the other half was frustrated. Why did Sonic go to such extremes?

Months passed and Shadow was still no closer to Sonic's reasoning, but Sonic's plans like they had their foot on the accelerator and weren't even thinking of letting up. Shadow had to find a way to make them hit the brakes...

One day when Shadow had decided to do a little field work again, he decided to climb the walls of the Rose household. Mistake one. Upon reaching the roof, he shimmied along to peer into the garden which was in the centre of the complex. Mistake two. As he peered over the edge of the roof, he spotted Sonic who seemed to be intimidating Amy. This is where Shadow made his biggest mistake yet. With a growl that erupted from his throat, Shadow stood up on the roof and jumped into the courtyard, spinning as he went to attempt to slow himself and minimise damage. Too bad Amy had recognised him and was probably the thing that could hurt him most at that moment in time.

Upon landing, Shadow was hit square in the head with a large hammer that seemed to materialize from no where. "What do you think you're doing here? I'll kill you you... you... you murderer!" Amy screamed at him. Shadow's ears were ringing as he attempted to stand again after the brutal hit. "Sonic! Get the guards!" Amy continued to shout as she hit Shadow again. Shadow went down, hitting his head off the stone floor. He passed out. Or at least, it looked as if he had. Sonic had failed to move. He wasn't going to get the guards. "Are you deaf?" Amy spat, spinning to look at Sonic. He smiled.

"Who cares about him?" He started, calm as usual. "He'll just end up dying there if we let him bleed." _Bleed? That's the first I've heard that I'm bleeding..._ Shadow thought, half conscious of what he was thinking but more focused on the conversation between the other two hedgehogs.

"He's down. Nothing to worry about." Sonic said with a shrug. Amy glanced at him, dumbfounded.

"Nothing to worry about? He killed my father!" She retorted. Sonic sighed at her.  
"Fine, fine, I'll get the guards. But only after you've answered the question." He stated. _Question?_

* * *

Please R&R! I've been feeling very lonely without comments about what people think. :(


	7. The Answer

"Sonic... I... I think it's a bit early to be thinking about marriage..." Amy stuttered. _MARRIAGE?_

"Amy... with your dad... y'know... how are you going to carry on living here with no income?" _That's not the reason... I know it isn't... but what could it be?_ Shadow heard Sonic's feet move, and he assumed that it was in Amy's direction. He heard muttering barely making out the odd word. He could hear things like 'Rouge' 'not serious' and 'only love you'; every word making him more and more angry. He knew that it was all lies. As his anger got to boiling point, Sonic managed to push Shadow off the edge.

"I care for you more than anyone else..." Shadow wasn't sure what it was, but something in him caused his movements to increase in speed, so as he pushed himself off the floor onto his feet and punched Sonic in the stomach, Amy was still looking at where Sonic had previously been when he was slumped over Shadow's fist, unconscious.

Amy realized what had happened a second or so later, shifting her gaze towards the ebony assassin who stood with a furious look in his eye and a blue hedgehog slumped over his fist. "Wha... What... Why did you..." She was obviously trying to say something, but only gibberish seemed to form. Shadow flicked Sonic off his hand and onto the floor then pointed to him with one oversized sleeve.

"He's the one who contracted your father's killing." Shadow stated, a disgusted look passing over his features.  
"And I'm expected to believe that?" Amy spat back. Shadow glanced at her then back at Sonic. With a sigh, he reached into Sonic's pocket and pulled out the letter he had sent, the seal already broken, and passed it to Amy.

"Read it."

Amy had cautiously took the letter from his hand, opened it, then read the contents.  
"Did you write this?" Amy asked. Shadow nodded.

"Though it was anonymous on both sides. I did not know him, he did not know me. We simply knew that he had contracted an assassination and I had carried it out.

"If it was anonymous on both sides then how did you-"

"A go-between exchanged letters." Amy nodded then passed the letter back to him. Stopping for a second to assess the look on Amy's face, Shadow replaced the letters and then looked back to Amy.

"I... would like to apologize for what I have done. It turns out that his reasoning for the contract was invalid, thus should not have been carried out. As a result, I must pay the consequences. I will do whatever you ask, but only once." He stated. Her gaze met his, as she noticed for the first time that his eyes were blood red. Shock passed over her features for a split second. She had never seen red eyes before.

"Show... show me your face." She said. She did not order, because she felt that she did not have the authority to do so, simply said it. She hadn't even really though about it, if she was honest.

The request took Shadow by surprise at first, but then he thought about it and came to the conclusion that if he were in her position he would want to know who had killed his father too. "I hope you know that you may become a target after this. That or I will be 'dealt with' if the guild learns of this." Shadow said as he raised his hands towards the hood of his cloak and grabbed it gently. She nodded, taking a step closer to him.

"Show me your face. Please." Shadow chuckled slightly, throwing the hood back.

"Happy?" Shadow asked sarcastically.

* * *

Please R&R!


	8. The solution

Amy's jaw dropped slightly as she saw Shadow's face. Surprisingly, he was good looking. _Too_ good looking to be an assassin. She had always imagined his type to be ugly, scarred men and never... _handsome_. "What? Is there something on my face?" Shadow asked, rubbing the corner of his mouth to see if there was anything there. Amy shook her head furiously as a pink blush crawled across her face.

"N...no there's nothing there... I just didn't expect you to be so... so... y'know..." She mumbled, shuffling uneasily from one foot to the other.

"What?" Shadow asked, a confused look forming on his face. Amy looked back up to him, the blush now a crimson colour.

"Handsome..." She continued to mumble, but Shadow heard her. His lips curled up slightly at either end, forming a satisfied smirk.

"Is that so?"

As Amy stared into his red eyes, she thought that she could easily loose herself. She had almost forgotten why he was stood in front of her with his hood off. _Almost_.

Tearing her eyes away from his she looked to the floor of her garden, the light brown slabs seeming to be the only thing that she could focus on properly at the moment. "Go." She said flatly. "If you don't, someone might find out what you look like or worse, who you are." Amy continued, once again looking up to him then walking forward, taking his hood in her hands and placing it back over his head. Shadow nodded, adjusting his hood slightly, then scaled the all too familiar walls of Amy Rose's garden and ran along the rooftops of the city he knew like the back of his hand.

Shadow dropped through the roof of the Assassin's guild, landing on his feet and heading for his father's room immediately. He knocked on the door and waited for his father to answer, crossing his arms and tapping his foot nervously. As the door opened, Shadow barely gave his father time to open the door completely before rushing inside and throwing himself into the nearest seat. "What happened to _you_?"

After explaining all that had happened, Shadow's eyes met his father's as they thought of what they could do to prevent anything from happening as a result of what had been asked of him. "We could always just kill her." Shadow's father said. Shadow's eyes widened, and he shot a look at his father that said '_please tell me you're joking._' Then got a chuckle as an answer. As Shadow relaxed, sighing deeply, his father made another suggestion. This one caught Shadow's attention for a very different reason. A smile passed between the two dark furred hedgehogs and a nod of approval came from the red streaked one. As he got up, a satisfied smile spread further. The idea pleasing the red streaked male. "Bring her here, keep her safe, and maybe even make her yours." Echoed in the black and red furred male's head as he climbed out of the hole in the roof with a smile still on his face.


End file.
